Torn [SHAWN MENDES]

~70~

Shawn walked into his house after returning from a week on the road. The festival tour was going great, but between the separation, figuring out their custody schedule, and trying to fix up his new place, he was feeling a little overwhelmed. Thankfully he had a therapy session the next morning.

Vera recommended a cognitive behavioral therapist who was also a professor at UC Santa Barbara, and he'd started seeing Niles regularly after he moved out. The focus of each visit was to change negative behaviors, which sounded simple but was actually very hard.

One of Shawn's biggest issues was self-loathing, and Niles identified that he was using that as an excuse to make poor choices. If you think you're a bad person, then you expect yourself to do bad things. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, the more you love and respect yourself, the more likely you are to choose paths that are good for you and the people in your circle. Each day he looked in the mirror and told his reflection three uplifting affirmations.

Looking around, he was pleased to see that the painting contractors had finished up while he was away. The yellow was gone, and in its place was a clean light gray-beige color. He'd selected this hue for every room except Piper's. She was given an assortment of paint sample chips to choose from, though he doubted she fully understood what it was for. Walking upstairs to her bedroom, he saw that it was now a cheerful periwinkle blue. Her furniture had been delivered, so now all he had to do was make up her bed and unpack the toys and books he'd ordered before Yasmin brought her over.

He went to his room next, which only had a mattress on the floor. His needs weren't a priority, so he figured he'd pick out a bedroom set when things were less crazy. The living room and dining room were partly furnished and he'd stocked the kitchen with some essentials.

"Daddy!" Piper squealed when he opened the door a few hours later.

"Hi, princess! Are you ready to spend some time at our new house?"

The toddler scrunched her face. "No Daffy."

Yasmin sighed. "She was very upset about leaving Daffodil behind. I almost brought her along."

"I wouldn't have minded if you had. Come on inside," Shawn said as he opened the door wider.

"Wow! The house looks amazing!" Yaz said as she looked at all the improvements. "I love the furniture."

"That's thanks to you. Your decorator was able to find pieces that fit the architecture of the house. I can't believe how perfect it all is. I'm still waiting on some stuff, but I think it'll be delivered before I fly to Europe. Can I get you a water or maybe a coffee?"

"I'd love some water, but first you should show Pippy her room."

Shawn undid the gate at the bottom of the stairs before scooping his daughter up into his arms. "You wanna see your big girl room?"

"Yes!"

Piper would be turning two in a few months, so he and Yasmin decided that she could transition to a toddler bed at his house.

After securing the second gate at the top of the staircase, he put the little girl down and walked her down the hall to her bedroom. "Here it is!"

Piper ran inside and immediately climbed on the bed. "Mine?"

"Yep. That's your bed," he told her.

She went around to each thing and asked if it was hers, before pulling a book from the bookcase and sitting in a miniature chair in the corner.

"I love it," Yaz whispered. "You selected really cute bedding."

"You can't go wrong with frogs, eh?"

The cotton quilt was covered in frogs and colorful polka-dots, while the sheets were a pretty tangerine color. Shawn had found a gigantic stuffed frog, which was next to the chair Piper was sitting in.

"You're welcome to stay for dinner," he said to Yaz. "I haven't had time to shop, so we're going to order pizza."

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all. Besides...we're co-parenting, right? It's good to do stuff together."

After letting Piper explore her room awhile, the three of them got drinks and went out to the backyard so that the toddler could play on the small climbing structure Shawn bought. Over pizza, which they ate at the kitchen table, the adults went over their upcoming schedules. Rosie would be coming to Shawn's the next day, and Yaz was flying to New York for a two-day photo shoot.

"You know," Shawn said as he cleared the plates, "instead of hiring a pet sitter, you could let me keep Daffy here."

"The last time we talked, you sounded a little stressed. I don't want the dog to pile more on top of you."

"I'm doing pretty well. Yeah, there have been a lot of changes, but I'm always happy to have our puppy here. It seems silly to have someone watch her when I live five miles away."

"If you're positive, I can drop her off on my way to the airport tomorrow," Yasmin said.

"Do you have time for that?"

"Not really, but I can get up earlier than planned."

Shawn shook his head. "Piper and I will go to the house to get her and all her stuff. I know how frantic you get on travel days."

When it was time for Yaz to leave, Shawn and Piper escorted her to the door.

"I'll see you in four days, lovey," Yasmin said as she knelt in front of her daughter.

"No!" Piper said as she stamped her foot.

Shawn crouched down beside her. "You're going to live with me for a bit, and then you'll go back to the other house with Mama."

"No! Mama here!"

Yaz put a hand on Shawn's shoulder. "Maybe you could take her outside again and I'll slip out. We knew this might be hard at first, so be ready for some tears."

The plan worked perfectly, but when Piper got bored with blowing bubbles and realized her mother was gone, she had a mini-breakdown.

"I've got an idea," he said to her. "Why don't we take a walk around our new neighborhood. We can count how many cars are parked in the driveways."

"Me count."

"Of course. I'd never presume to take that job from an expert like you." She could only count to three, but that didn't really matter. The point was to get her involved in something she enjoyed.

They returned home once Piper started yawning. Shawn took her to the master bathroom and let her splash around in the claw foot tub with some bath toys he'd purchased. Then he put her in a fresh diaper and jammies before getting on her little bed to snuggle and read books.

"Mama?" Piper asked drowsily as she rested her heavy head against her daddy.

"We'll see her soon. Guess who you get to see tomorrow?"

"Rosie?"

"Yep, but we're going to go get Daffy and she's gonna stay here with us! Do you think she'll like the backyard?" he asked.

"Yes!"

He finished the story and gave his angel a kiss before turning on her nightlight and closing the door. Shawn made sure the gate at the top of the stairs was secured and then went to his bedroom. Switching on the monitor, he watched Piper sleep for a few minutes and then pulled out his phone to send Yaz a quick text to let her know their night had gone smoothly. She immediately messaged back with three hearts. Then he sent a text to someone else, though that one didn't receive a response.